Supreme Court forms committee to guide judges about sensitivity, compassion in judicial work

Supreme Court establishes a committee to enhance judges' sensitivity and compassion in handling sexual assault cases involving minors.

Over a year after a High Court judge used explicit language to narrate a sexual assault on a minor girl in his judicial order, the Supreme Court has assigned the Director of the National Judicial Academy, Justice (retired) Aniruddha Bose, a former apex court judge, to draw guidelines to infuse the qualities of sensitivity and compassion in judges, especially in the context of vulnerable cases.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant directed Justice Bose to include legal practitioners, academicians and social workers in the expert committee.

The court said the committee report should be comprehensive and written in simple language, without any legal jargon. The court said there was no point to such an exercise if the victims, whose rights the exercise seeks to protect, did not understand a word of the report. The Bench said the report should be translated into regional languages and submitted in the apex court.

The court highlighted that there were several offensive words and expressions in local dialects which are used casually in society. However, the use of these words also constitute an offence under the penal laws. The Bench said it was time to spread awareness about how such expressions were a violation of the rights of victims of sexual assault.

“It shall be highly appreciated if the committee, as a part of its report, is able to identify and compile such words/expressions, from different languages, so that they do not go unnoticed, and the complainants/victims are empowered to give a better and fuller narrative of the trauma undergone by them,” the judgment, authored by Chief Justice Kant, observed.

Comment | Judicial sensitivity to sentiments is a sign of regression